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Sunday, April 28, 2024

"Marriage, Divorce, and Vows"

Matthew 5:31-37

This Sunday, Pastor Bryon will continue in the message series based on the Sermon on the Mount.

There will be Kids Ministry Programming this Sunday.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (SLC) NOMINATIONS

The Discernment Task Group (DTG) is soliciting nominations for up to 4 positions on the Servant Leadership Council (SLC). Nominate by clicking the link below or by paper ballot on the Welcome Desk at the church. Nominations open Sunday, April 28, and will be closed on Sunday, May 12, 2024. Please prayerfully consider your nomination.

Currently serving on SLC:

Marcia Barber, Kandra Brummett, Marybeth Essex, Scott Johnson, Thomas Sprouse, Melissa Strong, Anne Hill and Eric Perkins

Marcia Barber and Scott Johnson will be rolling off the SLC and may not be nominated for the new term.

SLC Responsibilities include:

1. Be responsible for the strategic direction of the church

2. Establish strategies and objectives to fulfill the church’s Purpose, Vision and Values, and to review progress against objective and ensure that ministry operates consistently with the strategies.

3. Be servant leaders of the church in life, thought, and ministry.

4. Meet monthly, and at other times as necessary to accomplish its duties, maintaining permanent, typed minutes of such meetings.

5. Annually review and establish strategies and objectives to accomplish the church’s purpose and to review the charter of ministry councils and teams. As part of this review, it may request objectives from the staff, ministry councils, and teams.

6. Regularly review the total ministry of the church to determine that objectives are being accomplished and give direction, guidance and spiritual support to the senior pastor.

7. Establish policies as necessary to guide the church and to take or recommend corrective action, or reverse objectives, where objectives are not being accomplished.

8. Represent the church in certain staff relationships as outlined in the church’s Human Resources Policy Manual.

9. Routinely review the charter and objectives of ministry teams.

10. Make recommendations on all matters to be brought to the church in business meetings, other than from teams directly responsible to the church; and to call church meetings as necessary.

11. Approve the annual ministry budget of the church as submitted by the STG. Final budget will be forwarded to the church in the annual meeting for consideration and approval.

12. Execute all contractual agreements on behalf of the Church.

Make plans to attend the Town Hall Meeting on May 22 at 6:30 pm in the Worship Center. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the proposed budget for 2024-2025. On Wednesday, June 5 at 6:30 pm, there will be a business meeting to vote on the budget and to elect members to various volunteer positions.

Summer in the SON

From May 26 - Sept. 1 we will worship at 10:00 am and have Bible Study at 9:00 am and 11:00 am. Kids Ministry will have programming at 9:00 am and 10:00 am. Check out gayton.church/adults for Bible Study class information.

Shawn Allen, a Richmond native and creator of Jazz Nativity is coming all the way from South Florida to tickle the ivories and get your toes tapping!

On May 6th, Shawn will be joined by many talented musical guests, including two members of The KOS Band.

They'll use swing, blues, folk, gospel, rock-n-roll, reggae, and disco music to tell a powerful story about how people can work together to share God's love with those who need it most.

We are excited to continue supporting Shawn's ministry by hosting this event on May 6th.

Rev. Bryon Lepere and Rev. Jennifer Mullins will be co-leading a Wednesday Night Bible study called, "Jesus said, "I Am..." - a study on Jesus' "I am" statements in the Gospel of John. The whole church is invited to come. Folks are invited to bring their own dinner at 5:45pm to the Pumphouse Cafe for fellowship. The Bible study will go from 6:30-7:30pm.

Our Food Pantry relies mostly on donations. Pick up a couple extra boxes of cereal during the month of May.

As always, any and all donations are appreciated.

Faith & Recovery Ministry

As you may have heard during service on 4/21, the Faith & Recovery Ministry is on the move, and we can you use your help as volunteers in four key areas:

1.        Drivers, Drivers, DRIVERS! If you have ever considered the joy of bringing guests to church who are unable to drive themselves, then this is your opportunity. We have more participants who want to come to church than we have transportation capability (drivers). You do not have to drive the church bus, personal vehicles are fine. 

2.        Weekly House Visits. We bring a hot meal for dinner, watch a Christian video, and fellowship one evening per week with approximately 10 participants living in the house. This is a great opportunity to develop relationships and share the love of Christ. We have partnered with a men’s and women’s house – so both men & women volunteers are needed!

3.        Duffel Bags. Many new participants to the recovery program have only the clothes on their back, some coming straight from prison or off the streets. Several times a year, we pack duffel bags full of life essentials (toiletries, sheets, blanket, etc.) along with a handwritten note of encouragement and a daily devotional. This is perfect for a men or women’s group, a Bible study group, or youth group to do a packing event together as a service project.

4.        Slingshot.  This is a once-a-month, activity based program, held on a Saturday afternoon from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The activities include games like basketball, pickleball, cornhole, etc. – typically with a craft activity as well. Lunch is served to the participants. This event rotates among a few different churches and is being held at Gayton Baptist Saturday, May 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 pm – and we need volunteers please – to set-up and manage the activity stations, prepare/serve lunch, and to organize/manage a craft station. 

Please email Mike Brumagin at mikebrum89@gmail.com to volunteer for any of these service opportunities and help us spread the love of Christ to the Richmond recovery community. If you are not sure, and just have questions – that is fine…please reach-out and let’s talk. 

NOTE: Please keep in mind you do not have to commit to participating in every activity, every time. If you are interested in driving for example, but can only do it one Sunday a month, that would be welcomed! 

Young Adult Life Nights

Join us for Life Night each Tuesday from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Contact Jennifer@gayton.church for more information.

Gayton Student Life Nights

Our Gayton Student LifeNight time will be from 6:00-7:30pm. We will provide a light, pre-packaged snacks. Anyone who wishes to bring a snack to share is always welcome to do so without scheduling it. LifeNights will continue to include open gym & drawing room, games, worship, Bible study and fun community-building.  This 6:00-7:30pm time frame will remain through the summer and into the new school year, barring a special youth event or churchwide event.

Check out gayton.church/students for more information and upcoming events.

Join us Sunday mornings at 10:08 am for Youth Brunch in room 223.

Sign up below to help with Youth Brunch.

Gayton Student Ministry 2nd Annual "AMAZING RACE"!

For all students in 6th-12th grade!

Sunday, May 19 

Noon- 7:00pm

Cost - $20

Sign-up by or before April 28th.

Students will be assigned to teams* of 4-6 people with an adult driver. Teams will be given a team color and name prior to the event so they can plan to dress in that color. After the 11:00am worship service, which ends by noon, all of the participants will have lunch together at the church; receive all the "Amazing Race" rules and instructions, and prepare to start the race. The start of the race will be at 1:00pm. Teams will be given clues to solve and follow to get to destinations where they will have challenges to complete. The tasks to complete are varied, from silly and fun, to creative, to helping others, to mission-focused, to brain-teasers, to physical challenges. All require teamwork and along the way, there will be items to keep up with and a Bible verse to memorize and ultimately recite at the finish line. The "race" will take the teams all over the Richmond area. Dinner will be included along the way. This is a very popular event and is incredibly fun! It is a great event to invite friends to!  *Students will be assigned to the same teams as their invited guests. (No worries.).  All students and invited friends and guests should sign-up by or before Sunday, April 28th.  Each participant will need to fill out a medical release form and sign a code of conduct. At the end of the race, drivers will bring students back to the church to be picked up.

Gayton Student Mission Camp - "Mission Connection Celebration - MC2"

Monday, July 22-Friday, July 26

For students in completed 6th-12th grade.

Eagle Eyrie Conference Center, Lynchburg, Virginia

Cost: $350 - includes lodging, linens, meals, programming, activities, mission supplies/materials

This is a week of worship, fun, mission work, Bible study and community-building. We will join groups from all over Virginia for worship and special missions. However, our own group will stay together in our own lodge, all serve together on our assigned mission site, sit together for meals, and work on community-building together. Meanwhile, in free time, students can enjoy the pool, fun activities, an ice cream and coffee shop and having fun together.  

Sign-up by or before Sunday, May 19 ( the day of the Amazing Race).

Each participant will be given a packet of medical release forms, a code of conduct, other mission camp information and what to pack, in addition to information about the week's Bible theme. We will also need your t-shirt size. There will be a mission camp participant meeting scheduled in June.

It's time for Summer SHINE! Share His Influence Now to Everyone!

As you may know, each summer, Gayton Kids Ministry Sunday morning programming is staffed by our parents and other church volunteers who are asked to serve a single Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This provides a break for some of our Kids Min leaders who serve consistently September through May and allows an opportunity for families to participate in kids programming with their children, interacting with leaders and kids! 

Please consider your summer schedule (trips, vacations, etc) and choose one week to serve! We would like to have kids programming (nursery, preschool, and elementary) during the Bible Study hour at 9 am and during the worship service at 10 am, but this is entirely dependent on volunteer sign ups. All lesson plans will be written for you and shared with you in advance, and all resources needed to complete the activities will be pulled for you and ready in the room on Sunday. 

We require at least two leaders in each ministry area, one of whom is 18+. Families are welcome to serve together. 

Please let me know if you have any questions! 

Hillary 

Come join Mrs. Hillary for a fun evening celebrating faith and our community at Faith Night at the Flying Squirrels game on Saturday, May 18 at 6:05 pm against the Reading Fightin' Phils. Come early for music and pregame player testimonials. Stick around after the game for fireworks from up close and inside the fences. Gates: 5:00 PM | First pitch: 6:05 PM | 

Buy your own tickets online or in person and meet Mrs. Hillary in General Admission section 214!

Fun Friday Free Play in the Treehouse

Friday, May 31, 2024 6 - 8:00 pm

New drop off event to allow parents a night out. Limited to the first 20 preschool - elementary-aged children to sign up with Mrs. Hillary via the Sign Up Genius Link in the May 1 Kids Min Newsletter Email. Children are welcome to bring a packed dinner (no nuts or nut products, please) to eat in the Pump House Cafe before playtime.

📊 FINANCIAL HEALTH UPDATE

(Budget = Anticipated Giving; Actual = Actual Giving Received; YTD = Year-to-Date)

YTD TOTAL giving through 4/21/2024 = $ 745,493.34

YTD budget through 4/21/2024 = $859,075.28,

YTD difference =($113,581.94)

Funds collected to Budget = 86.7%